Red Bridge Plan Now Includes Children’s Museum, Library

The Wonderscope Children’s Museum, based in Shawnee, kicked off a capital campaign this morning to finance a $12 million facility in the Red Bridge Shopping Center, the south Kansas City retail center recently redeveloped by LANE4 Property Group.

The Wonderscope project will be executed in partnership with the Mid-Continent Library’s Red Bridge branch, which use proceeds from a ballot measure to build at the retail center. The Wonderscope Children’s Museum will cover 30,000 square feet at the center, with the new library on the opposite side of the development, flanking a public auditorium that can accommodate up to 300 people for community events.

Wonderscope, in the former Flint School building at 57th and King in Shawnee, attracts roughly 70,000 children and families each year. The new museum/library combination fits the current trend of blending lifestyle and entertainment components into major retail centers, with a goal of increasing traffic that can benefit each venue.